How Can We Create Peace Between Jews and Arabs?

February 16, 2019

Ian Roundtree

St. Louis, Missouri, United States

On the second day of IC 2019 I had the pleasure to attend the "Connection Points: Bridging the Gap in Israel" panel Limmud session monitored by Jason Scheuer of Wisconsin Region, and featuring Zakí Djemal and Liron Turkenic of Israel. This session was also about decreasing the conflict between Arabs and Jews.

Zakí, the co-founding managing partner of fresh.fund, is from Jerusalem, and he focuses on bringing Arabs and Jews together through programs such as Simply Sing which had 1,000+ Arabs and Jews sing together. Zakí has also had programs featured in major newspapers such as The New York Times.

While I was at this session, Zakí really stood out to me with his passion and determination to create peace between Arab and Jewish people. Furthermore, Zakí never gives up and pushes his dream forward through interactive experiences with both cultures.

Next, there was Liron Turkenich from Haifa, Israel. Liron is a typeface designer who made a system that allows one to read a single text in both Arabic and Hebrew.

Liron is very much like Zakí because both of them want Jews and Arabs to coexist peacefully.

Liron stood out to me greatly because she showed that creating peace doesn't only involve protesting, but peace can simply be created by writing a story on the internet, or finding your passion and sharing it with others because communication is key to a better world.

Lastly, this session truly inspired me to think outside of the box while planning chapter and council programs in my hometown. Programs like this can really show the power one has in the world.

Photo by Taylor Rosenblatt.

Ian Roundtree is a passionate Aleph from Mid-America Region: St. Louis Council who enjoys playing the trombone and bass guitar.

About Us

The Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA) and the B’nai B’rith Girls (BBG) are a fraternity and sorority for Jewish teens—together, we are BBYO. Since our founding in 1924 (AZA) and 1944 (BBG), we have been member-led. Our priorities and programs reflect the interests and issues that matter most to us. Our pursuits are as diverse as our participants.

AZA and BBG welcome Jewish teens of all backgrounds, denominational affiliation, gender, sexual orientations, and socio-economic status as well as those with a range of intellectual, emotional, and physical abilities.